A classic Aussie Chardy for a fiver

2007 Lindeman's, Bin 65 Chardonnay, South Eastern Australia

Matthew Jukes
By
published
in Features

2007 Lindeman's, Bin 65 Chardonnay, South Eastern Australia (£6.99, reduced to £4.99, until 2 September, Sainsbury's).

One of the most admired wines in my 100 Best Australia Wines of 2008 line-up was this inexpensive Chardonnay, made in mind-blowing quantities, in a space-age winery in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. As far as brand champions are concerned, Bin 65 has been flying the flag for Australia for years and it is one of the better wines at the price.

Nowadays this operation is owned by Fosters, and you might have expected it to take its eye off the ball on the wine side of operations, but it hasn't. In fact, this vintage of Bin 65 is the best ever. Gone is the subtle-as-a-breeze-block feel, so welcome with open arms the superb intensity of flavour, seriously clever oak integration and discreet, fresh, pear and crisp-apple theme.

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There are still some lush moments (it wouldn't be the same without the fatter honey and orange blossom dimensions), but, all in all, this is a very smart piece of work. It is reduced to a fiver, too, for a few weeks, so don't delay and grab an iconic Aussie Chardy and see just how much times have changed.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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